Kurt Elling Quotes
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There is an actor's responsibility in presenting the emotional content of the lyrics to an audience. But whether you do that in a straightforward fashion or an ironic fashion or a blase fashion is all about opportunities, and singers are missing opportunities as artists if they don't pay attention to the lyric.
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I'm a goof, man.
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I've got more low notes than I had when I started.
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It's pretty rare in jazz to have a full-on steady band.
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Chicago has a burly, action-oriented but still self-assured and relaxed confidence to its stride. The city has a lot of wide-open space and all the possibilities that suggests. There's a lot of horizontal grandeur here.
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I didn't arrive on the scene until after Jaco Pastorius had passed, but 'Three Views of a Secret' is a long-time favourite of mine.
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You want to be doing your best work whatever field of the arts you're in because your life's going to be over all too soon, and you have to make the most of it.
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I'm thrilled when I hear the greatest jazz musicians. They continue to search in ways other musicians do not.
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I've worked with a number of big bands, but there's nothing in life like the Basie band.
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I haven't been afraid of John Coltrane or Miles Davis or Bill Evans or Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock. Why would I be afraid of the Beatles?
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I try to sleep as much as I can. I drink a lot of water. I practice consistently and just try to be ready for the gig.
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Every record is a gate of a certain kind for me.
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Salacious? I suppose every once in a while the salacious thing is not a bad thing. It's kind of monochromatic if that's all you do.
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Part of my joy as a singer is to give gifts to people, and one way I try to connect to them is to add something in French or German or whatever.
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There's a wide spectrum of possibilities in how to deliver a song.
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As improvisers, we're acting as composers in front of people.
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Each of the CDs prior to 'Flirting With Twilight' were more like roller-coaster rides.
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I couldn't do what I do without the encouragement and influence of the musicians I played with in Chicago.
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I hope that I'm also maturing emotionally as a human being as things go on.
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I know how hard it's been for me to get my thing out there.
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Why limit yourself to one discipline or field of study?
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There's a spiritual complement to any attempt at transposing a commitment to humanity through music or art.
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Karl Johnson, my first piano player at Milt Trenier's, he just swung really hard and gave me a sense of really belonging to the jazz scene.
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I was very lucky that more experienced musicians allowed me to caterwaul until I figured out what it was really about.